Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Amendment (Ensuring Integrity) Bill 2019. Here we are again. It is history repeating itself from those opposite. At every opportunity, the Morrison government is willing to unleash dread on those who protect not only thousands of Australian workers but some of Australia's lowest paid workers. Those opposite don't believe in fairness at work; they don't believe in fair pay and conditions for Australian workers. They don't believe in weekend rates, paid sick leave, annual leave, penalty rates, superannuation, Medicare, an eight-hour day, maternity leave, health and safety in the workplace, long-service leave, redundancy pay, awards, rostered days off, shift allowances, union allowances, uniform allowances, meal breaks and rest breaks at work, the right to organise and collectively bargain, workers compensation or unfair dismissal protection. Yes, that is those opposite. That is the Morrison Liberal government and every Liberal government before them. Those opposite hate the union movement despite the inescapable fact that the union movement has fought for the rights of all Australian workers to have a safe and secure job that they can count on.

In the interests of context, if you contrast that with the private sector, those opposite do not want to hear about it. They hold their hands up to their ears like temperamental teenagers because they believe corporate Australia to be the bastion of morality and goodwill. I ask those opposite, those on the government benches: why won't you hold corporate Australia to the same standards? Why won't you view the union movement and the corporate sector impartially? Look at them from the same starting point instead of being a self-righteous, domineering and draconian government. Right now in this country we have a bank, Westpac, that has been accused of the biggest breach of money laundering and terrorism financing laws in Australia's history, including failure to detect payments that may have been used to facilitate child exploitation. They are very, very serious breaches of Australian law. What does this government do? Attack the union movement.

Westpac has been accused of systematically breaching money-laundering laws more than 23 million times—not 23 times but 23 million times—and failing to report more than $11 billion in international transfers. We're not talking about a minor breach of the rules of AUSTRAC, which keeps a tally on these things and has now brought it to light so that the Australian public and the government are made fully aware of what they have actually done with these breaches—23 million times. I note the allegations dwarf the Commonwealth Bank of Australia's 53,000 infractions, which led to a record $700 million fine and the departure of the chief executive officer. But those opposite don't want to talk about white-collar crime. They don't want to talk about serious allegations against the private sector—or themselves, for that matter. Three words: Minister Angus Taylor. He is a minister of the Crown, a minister of the Commonwealth of Australia, who is now being investigated by the New South Wales police. Consequently, you would expect the Prime Minister and the executive of those opposite to uphold the ministerial code of conduct and ask the minister to step aside. But, Madam Deputy President, you and I know that's not likely to happen with those opposite. Clause 7.1 of the ministerial code of conduct states:

… a Minister should stand aside if that Minister becomes the subject of an official investigation of alleged illegal or improper conduct.

It is a very clear clause; no ifs, no buts. But those opposite don't believe in the rule of law when it comes to their own. They don't believe corporate Australia or their own minister have to follow the law. But when it comes to the union movement they will do anything—and I mean anything—to tear them down. The issue of Minister Taylor is a serious one, and those opposite should hold their own minister to the same standards as every other minister of the Commonwealth of Australia. It is one rule for them, and stuff the rest of us. That's their mantra.

The New South Wales Police Financial Crimes Squad is investigating the potential doctoring of documents used by Energy Minister Angus Taylor to accuse Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore of excessive travel expenditure, but those opposite want to actually ignore that. To me that seems like double standards. I don't know about the rest of my colleagues here, but I think it's pretty much the standard course of behaviour of those opposite. You would think the Prime Minister would step in front of this and take some leadership, but no; he said in question time that he was not aware of the details and would take advice from the New South Wales police. Is this incompetent and illegal? To be honest with you, it's what we've come to expect from Liberals in this country and from this government.

In September, if you recall, Mr Taylor accused Councillor Moore of excessive travel expenditure, citing what appeared to be an annual report from her council body, but now he has gone quiet because he knows he did the wrong thing. I believe that the Prime Minister, Mr Morrison, will do anything to avoid scrutiny. Today the shutting down of the debate in the parliament about the embattled Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction just highlighted the lack of respect this Prime Minister has. The Prime Minister may not want scrutiny from the parliament, from the crossbench or from the media when he refuses to answer questions, but he can't avoid scrutiny by the New South Wales Police Force with their strike force that has now been launched.

This minister should not and cannot survive today. He shouldn't survive. The Prime Minister should stand him down and make him step aside. The born-to-rule mentality of those opposite is on display for all of us to see. Those opposite think they can get away with it. They think they can get away with anything. They think they are actually above Australians. They truly believe that. They believe they can defend the indefensible. But we on this side of the chamber say they must be held accountable. The Morrison government has to be held accountable. This minister should be stood aside and be held accountable in the best interests of all Australians. But we've seen many times before that this Prime Minister will stand behind incompetent ministers. We know, as we advance to the Christmas period, that those opposite say, 'Thank God, Christmas is coming; we'll just stave it all off, and people will forget about it over Christmas.' If he really thinks he can avoid scrutiny of his minister because Christmas is around the corner, he is sadly mistaken.

The bill before us is just another bitter and resentful Liberal attack on Australian workers and their representatives. The government won't hold themselves to account, but they are willing to hold a torch to the union movement. A similar bill to this was rejected by the 45th Parliament because it would have eroded the rights of workers and undermined the obligations of employers. But when the government have an opportunity you see what they really stand for and what they are really about, and I can assure you that the Australian people are seeing them for who they really are. They have Senator Pauline Hanson in their pocket again. As the old saying goes, when you roll around with dogs, you will catch flees—but the government do not care. They are willing to do whatever it takes to undermine the Australian workforce, everyday Australian workers, in the interests of their billionaire mates and billion dollar profits.

As I said before, the union movement is there to represent their membership, and many of them are some of the lowest paid Australian workers. Every time the Liberals get a bit of power they come after workers and unions. There's nothing new in this; this is what the Liberals do. They do it time and time again. And the crossbench are willing to do the same. That is where my real disappointment is—with the crossbench, who are having the wool pulled over their eyes.

We were told that this bill and other similar legislation would not be used for political purposes and yet similar laws have been. The first opportunity the government got they took the low road. Like a dictatorship ordering law enforcement, they sent in 30-plus police to two locations to raid the offices of the oldest union in Australia, the Australian Workers Union. That is the Morrison government's form, and why would they change such behaviour when it is in their DNA—they won't change. Their DNA dictates to tear down the union movement and to attack workers. It is part of their DNA. It's who they are.

In recent times we've seen countless examples of wage theft in this country, with employers ripping off their workers from the hospitality industry. We have seen this with some of Australia's most renowned chefs: George Calombaris and Neil Perry, front and centre, stealing—that's what it is; it is stealing—the wages of workers to the tune of millions of dollars. We've also seen it with 7-Eleven, Domino's pizza, Michael Hill jewellers and Woolworths. Wage theft is real—cheating workers out of their overtime pay and making them work to the bone. This is real and this is happening in Australia. Those opposite, the Liberal Party and National Party, want this to continue, by undermining the rights of workers and their representatives to protect their economic interests.

The fact is we never see from those opposite public policy to strengthen the rights of the Australian workforce. We never see those opposite legislating to protect employees. That's because those opposite do not support legislation to tackle stagnant wages, wage theft or worker exploitation. The federal opposition—Labor senators and the Labor Party—will never support a bill that makes it harder for workers to get a fair pay rise. Labor will never support a bill that could leave workers without representatives to protect them from wage theft, superannuation theft and dangerous workplaces—never! This should be universal across the parliament. There should be bipartisan support against the illegal activity of stealing from workers, but those opposite will not agree to that.

As it stands, this bill represents a politically motivated attack on workers' ability to organise and represent other workers, run their own unions and determine who leads them. That is their right. It is a democratic right, and it is one Labor will always stand up and support. Workers should get a choice who represents them, not Mr Morrison or a minister hell-bent on destroying the livelihoods of Australians.

The government is claiming that the bill has been revised to more closely align these reforms with corporate equivalence—but don't be fooled. You can't believe them. The bill is far more extensive and extreme in its regulation of unions than what exists for businesses or, indeed, politicians. This bill is not fair. It does not negotiate or cooperate. It does not come to the table and agree to shared values. These laws will in fact make it possible for the government, ministers and disgruntled employers to shut down unions and deny workers their right to choose their own representatives. That is what's hidden in this bill.

You would have thought that the Liberal Party would believe in freedom. The federal opposition believes in the fundamental principle of self-determination. It is fundamental to our democracy, like all other Western democracies, that people are free from government and employer interference so that they can join unions and elect representatives who will fight for pay rises and to protect their jobs and workplace safety if they choose to do so. But this bill is in fact about taking rights away from people. This bill is about silencing workers and making it harder for all workers to win pay rises. These laws are fundamentally unfair. They will not apply to businesses, banks or politicians, despite their serious and alleged unlawful and unethical conduct. The only people who will benefit from these laws are the Morrison government and unethical employers.

The Morrison government has overseen raids on journalists and is now attacking workers' freedom to run their own unions. Yes, we are living through these times. That is the kind of government we have in Australia right now. I ask those opposite to think outside the square for a moment and to lift the veil on their one-eyed mentality. Let me be absolutely clear: if these laws applied equally to corporations, we would see banks, multinational pizza chains and the restaurants of celebrity chefs closed down for repeatedly breaking laws, and their top executives would be sacked. This is not being proposed by those opposite. Why? Because it would be, rightly, outrageous. It is also outrageous for unions. But those opposite do not apply the same logic, because they are not only politically biased; they are immoral. They are willing to undermine the Australian workforce for their own selfish and unbridled political advantage. There is no justification for preventing amalgamations of unions. If the members of two unions vote to amalgamate, that's up to the members and executives of those unions. This goes to the heart of the democratic principle of freedom of association.

Those opposite don't mind associating with the Alan Joneses and Andrew Bolts of this world, but they don't want unions to associate with one another. They don't want a unified and strong Australian workforce looking after their own economic interests. No, they want a market that exploits workers for billions of dollars of profit and prioritises that over individual rights. Giving the government the power to prevent amalgamations is a clear attack on freedom of association. This government does not believe in protecting workers. Its sole purpose is to attack its political enemies. This government is void of public policy and it is void of any vision. It is a purely politically driven, sloganeering, self-promoting propaganda machine. That's what this Morrison government will be remembered for.

It's important that people are free from government and employer interference so they can join unions and elect representatives who fight for pay rises and fight to protect their jobs and provide a safe work environment. What we should be doing is supporting Australian workers, particularly the most vulnerable. We on this side of the chamber will continually stand up for workers' rights. We believe in the right to have union representation, if you choose to become a member. We will stand united with our Australian workers each and every time. (Time expired)